Question

Am I feeding my son enough - & how can I really tell?

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I have been determined to exclusively breastfeed my son, who will be three months old next week. I have been pumping milk when he is napping or when I feel full and storing it up, or when someone gives him a bottle of breastmilk so I can make up for what is lost. When I feed him, he has been on a trend of just drinking from one breast for 10 minutes. Obviously I have no idea how much he's getting, but he seems to be hungry enough for 3 1/2 to 4 ounces from the bottle. He is pretty consistently hungry every two hours. If I feed him any more than that, he spits up. Obviously every baby is different but is that normal for a baby his age? I am constantly worried he is not eating enough/too often.

Mom Answers

The only ways to tell are diaper output and weight gain. If he's peeing enough and gaining weight, he's fine. Period. Frequent nursing is normal, as is nursing quickly, slowly, one side, or both. Most babies will overfeed from bottles because the flow is so fast that they fill up before they realize they're full; they are used to ending a session comfort nursing at the breast so they keep sucking even when no longer hungry; and/or the caregiver pushes baby (knowlingly or not) to finish the bottle. I would stop pumping, just nurse and trust your baby and your body to work it out! The only exception is pumping when he's taking a bottle so your body knows he's still demanding milk at that time. Otherwise, it's just more work with no real payoff.

He's getting plenty if his diaper count is good. The beauty of breastfeeding is that baby decides when they are full, not the person giving a bottle who may push them to eat too much. Nursing every two hours is totally normal. Breast milk digests very quickly, so they have to eat more frequently. Be careful pumping too much. You don't want your supply to get wonky. It can signal your body to produce too much which leads to other issues.

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